CHAPTER12
Wednesday morning. A new day. A fresh start. Like yesterday, I make sure to arrive early, so early in fact that the doors are locked, and I have to wait a bit. I walked, not risking Moonlight.
As soon as I can head inside, I go to the locker rooms, and I shower. The water pressure is terrible. Makes me wonder if there is another shower somewhere that the upper echelon, the richest of the rich students can use. This entire school has a hierarchy like no other.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Brett and the others have the principal in their back pocket.
But I’m not going to worry about them at all. No. They have their attention on me so much because I’m alone all the time, but if I make friends before they poison everyone against me…
If only I had a class with Andrea…
School doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes yet, so I go to the front office. Jessthe receptionist is there, on a call. She holds up a finger to me, and I have to wait until she hangs up.
“What can I do for you…” She squints. “Ah, Erin, right?”
“Erika,” I say.
“Right. Of course. How are you settling in, Erika? Has… Brett… showed you the ropes?”
“Not one long enough,” I mutter, wishing I had one long enough for his neck.
Not that I would kill him.
Unless he pushed me far enough. Maybe then I would snap.
And I wouldn’t just be the daughter of a killer.
“What’s that, hon?”
I wave my hand. “I was hoping you could help me.”
“With what?”
“My schedule.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I would like to have lunch at another time,” I say, figuring that one small change would have the most domino effect. “Maybe whenever Andrea does?”
Jess wrinkles her nose. “Actually, I can’t. I can’t make scheduling changes.”
“Who can?”
“Well, the principal could, I suppose, but he won’t go for that.”
Hmm. The principal being male means he might be related to Brett after all. If the principal had been a woman, I might've wondered if Brett slept with her too. Bet his conquests number in the hundreds already.
“Can you see about my having a meeting with him?” I ask.
“I don’t think so. He’s booked up solid the rest of this week, and, hon, you just transferred here. You’re probably still behind and—”
“Is his schedule booked up already for next week?” I ask pointedly.
Jess sighs and places her hands on the counter. “You have to realize why I think it won’t happen. I had to rearrange another student’s entire schedule because a male student didn’t want her to be around him. He felt as if he couldn’t learn anything around her.”
“Who? Brett?” I ask dryly.
Jess’s cheeks turn pink.